


still a lot of bad blood

by felixfelicitas



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Bitter Springs Massacre aftermath, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:19:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8734624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felixfelicitas/pseuds/felixfelicitas
Summary: "The massacre three years back, you mean," he tried to correct."The incident, yes," Gilles maintained in return."Incident," Clark repeated. He paused for a few seconds, squinting at the Captain. His jaw twitched to the side, as if he was chewing on the word. "You realize you killed innocents, right?"





	

**Author's Note:**

> Harrison Clark is my courier six; Trev Wolf is another oc of mine, and his partner.

Clark burst into Captain Gilles’ tent and started talking before she could even process his arrival, the other three people he’d initially arrived with trailing in after him.

"Fixed your problem, attacks on the refugees should stop," he informed her. He started patting down his coat pockets as she blinked at him.

"Sorry, back up. Can you repeat that?" she asked. She frowned as he pulled out pack of cigarettes, and added, "Don’t smoke in the tents." The courier returned her frown, but shoved the pack back in his coat anyways.

"Found the guy killing refugees, was a Great Khan looking for revenge. He’s alive, headed to Red Rock now," he said. Gilles sucked in a breath.

"Ah. I should have expected as much, there's still a lot of bad blood between the Khans and the NCR, ever since the incident here," she muttered, almost to herself. Clark shot her a sharp look.

"The massacre three years back, you mean," he tried to correct.

"The _incident_ , yes," Gilles maintained in return.

"Incident," Clark repeated. He paused for a few seconds, squinting at the Captain. His jaw twitched to the side, as if he was chewing on the word. "You realize you killed innocents, right?"

"It was a _tragic_ mistake, but the NCR has done everything it can to make amends since then-" Gilles began, but Clark cut her off.

"Like what? Don’t sugarcoat this shit, you just ran 'em out of their home altogether!" he spat back. She looked at him with shock, feeling a sense of whiplash at the seemingly sudden downturn of the conversation.

"The Great Khans had been raiding against the NCR in this area. We permitted them to relocate to Red Rock Canyon, but it was dangerous for them to remain here as we expanded," she tried to explain. Clark just looked murderous.

Gilles had nearly forgotten about the other three men due to the courier’s sudden outburst, but the shorter of the two other humans, with short brown hair, stepped forward to grab Clark’s shoulder.

"Harrison-" he started to say, but his hand was shrugged off, and Clark continued snarling at Gilles.

"Ya’ll rightly call the Legion monsters, but you’ll fuckin' kill children in the name of progress too," he snapped, gesturing violently.

"This is _not_  the same-"

"According to who, you?" he scoffed. He looked like he had more to say, but the same guy as before tried again.

"Sweetheart, I need a smoke. We should step outside," he said as he grabbed his shoulder again, and gave him a hard look. Clark shut his eye tight and exhaled hard, and nodded after a few seconds.

"Right. Well, your issue is taken care of. Captain," he nodded at her once, and turned to leave the tent, his motions still stiff and tense. The other three followed him.

"Well, that could have gone better," Arcade tried to joke as the four of them trod away from the camp.

"Well done boss. You definitely handled that one well, and didn’t take things weirdly personally," Raul deadpanned. 

" _Thanks_ , always appreciate you two's honesty 'n' optimism," Clark grumbled back. He pulled out his pack again, and swung his head to the right so he’d be able to see his partner with his working eye. "Trev, you actually want a cigarette, or was that just an excuse?"

"Mainly just an excuse, but I won’t turn one down," Trev replied. Clark held out the crumpled box, and he snatched two from it. Clark turned again to the left and held the box out, but Raul waved him off. He shrugged, and glanced at Arcade.

"I thought I recalled Julie telling you to quit," Arcade commented dryly. He grabbed one too, after a moment of guilty hesitation.

"Julie says lots of things," Clark replied vaguely. Trev handed him his second cigarette, already lit, as he shoved the battered pack back in his coat. Trev gave him a worried look.

"You doing okay? Don’t mean to shut you down, but you were pretty heated and I figured _actually fighting_ with an NCR officer would be…" Trev trailed off and shrugged helplessly. Clark let out a tired sigh.

"Nah, you’re right. Not much they’d do at this point though, 'side actually start enforcing my 'official ban' from military outposts," he replied.

"I was surprised to hear you defending the Great Khans, due to their part in your near-death, and their direct responsibility for your eye," Arcade commented.

"Bitter Spring’s story hit too close to home or something?" Raul asked. Clark slowed his pace to a halt, and turned to face him directly. "I heard some similar, scattered stories when I got back to Tuscon," he continued, and Clark got the distinct impression he was raising an eyebrow at him. He swallowed hard.

"Somethin’ like that, yeah."


End file.
